Optical transmittal storage networks

ABSTRACT

Optical networks may store information or data therein by maintaining the information or data in motion. The optical networks may include optical fiber rings configured to receive optical signals comprising the information or data and to circulate the optical signals within the optical fiber rings. The optical signals and the information or data may be transferred out of the optical fiber rings in order to amplify the optical signals (e.g., to overcome losses due to attenuation within the optical fiber rings), to analyze the optical signals according to one or more processing techniques, or to transfer the information or data to another computer device upon request. If continued storage of the information or data is required, an optical signal including the information or data may be transferred back into the optical fiber rings and may continue to circulate therein.

CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS

This application is a continuation of U.S. patent application Ser. No.14/669,503, filed Mar. 26, 2015, the contents of which are incorporatedby reference herein in their entirety.

BACKGROUND

Networked computer systems may include a number of homogenous orheterogeneous data sources that are configured to capture, transmit andstore information or data of various types or forms in one or more datastores. For example, information or data may be captured using one ormore data sources such as imaging devices (e.g., digital cameras whichcapture still or moving images and other information), microphones,routers or other components, and transmitted over a wireless or wirednetwork infrastructure to one or more data stores, which may includedatabases (e.g., relational or distributed databases) or other filesystems that may be provided in one or more discrete locations, ordistributed throughout the network infrastructure.

Today, processes for capturing, transmitting and storing information ordata within a networked computer system are substantially linear innature. More specifically, information or data that is captured by asingle data source is typically transmitted to a predetermined orrandomly selected data store for storage. Once the information or datais digitally housed within the data store, the information or data maybe identified for analysis according to one or more processing methodsor techniques, recalled and transmitted to another computer device ordata store for further storage, backup or review, or deleted therefrom.Thus, the information or data that is captured by one or more of thevarious data sources in a networked computer system may generally becharacterized as either residing on a data store, or in transit from adata source or a data store to another data store.

Processes for capturing, transmitting and storing information or datamay be subjected to a number of hardware limitations or constraints. Forexample, where the capacity of the various data sources (e.g., imagingdevices, microphones or other components) to capture information or dataexceeds the bandwidth of a network to accommodate its transfer, afigurative limit may be placed on the volume of the information or datathat can be captured by such devices. Additionally, data stores arelimited in the volume or amount of information or data that they maysafely store therein. When the volume or amount of information or datamaintained within a networked computer system approaches a limit, atleast some of the information or data must be archived or deleted inorder to accommodate newer or more recent data. This concern isparticularly acute where information or data is captured by a number ofdata sources in a network at substantially constant rates (e.g., imagingdata captured from an environment by a plurality of imaging devices atstreaming rates defined by the desired levels of resolution of theimaging data). Moreover, repetitive writing and rewriting of informationor data onto components of a hard drive or other data storage unit maycause wear on such components, and otherwise limit the useful life ofthe storage unit.

Imaging devices such as video cameras may capture and record still ormoving images in digital computer-based files that may be stored in oneor more hard drives, servers or other non-transitory computer-readablemedia. While files including imaging data may be individually capturedand stored with relative ease, where a large number of cameras areprovided in order to monitor various aspects of a particular space,location or facility, the amount of digital storage capacity andcomputer processing power that is required in order to centrallyanalyze, index and store such files for any relevant purpose may beoverwhelming. Where a facility such as a warehouse or an airportprovides a large array of digital cameras for surveillance or monitoringoperations, such cameras may capture and store over a petabyte (or amillion gigabytes) of video data from such cameras each day.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 is a block diagram of aspects of an optical transmittal storagenetwork in accordance with embodiments of the present disclosure.

FIGS. 2A and 2B are block diagrams of components of one opticaltransmittal storage network in accordance with embodiments of thepresent disclosure.

FIG. 3 is a flow chart of one process for storing information or datausing an optical transmittal storage network in accordance withembodiments of the present disclosure.

FIGS. 4A and 4B are views of aspects of one system including an opticaltransmittal storage network in accordance with embodiments of thepresent disclosure.

FIG. 5 is a flow chart of one process for storing information or datausing an optical transmittal storage network in accordance withembodiments of the present disclosure.

FIG. 6 is a flow chart of one process for analyzing or processinginformation or data using an optical transmittal storage network inaccordance with embodiments of the present disclosure.

FIG. 7 is a flow chart of one process for transferring or servinginformation or data using an optical transmittal storage network inaccordance with embodiments of the present disclosure.

FIG. 8 is a block diagram of components of one system including anoptical transmittal storage network in accordance with embodiments ofthe present disclosure.

FIG. 9 is a block diagram of aspects of an optical transmittal storagenetwork in accordance with embodiments of the present disclosure.

FIG. 10 is a block diagram of aspects of an optical transmittal storagenetwork in accordance with embodiments of the present disclosure.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

As is set forth in greater detail below, the present disclosure isdirected to optical transmittal storage networks for storing informationor data received from any number of data sources, such as imagingdevices, that are provided in a network. More specifically, the systemsand methods disclosed herein may utilize one or more optical transmittalstorage networks to collect, stream, transmit, store, process, retrieveor serve information and data, such as video data and/or multimedia, inreal time or near-real time, and to maintain packets of such informationor data in continuous motion throughout the networks. The packets of theinformation or data may be stored within the optical transmittal storagenetworks by maintaining the packets in motion throughout the networks,which may be accomplished by introducing one or more time lags or delaysinto the motion of the packets using a ring or other section of highlynon-linear (e.g., coiled) fibers.

In some embodiments, the information or data may be captured orotherwise collected at one or more imaging devices or other data sourcesand transmitted in electrical pulses or signals to a transmittal storagenode, wherein the information or data may be converted into opticalsignals including the information or data, which may be amplified orisolated to specific wavelengths or frequencies. The optical signals maythen be transferred into a ring of substantially long fibers or othermedia, and circulate throughout the ring. If the continued storage ofthe information or data included in the optical signals remainsdesirable, the optical signals may be transferred out of the ring andconverted to one or more electrical signals in order to be reinforced orotherwise amplified to account for any losses that may have beenexperienced within the ring, subjected to any type or form of analysisor processing according to one or more techniques or algorithms,transmitted to one or more other devices or network components, and/ortransferred back into the ring or one or more other rings ofsubstantially long fibers or other media for circulation and storage. Ifstorage of the information or data is no longer desired, however, thenthe optical signals may be actively discarded (e.g., by removing theoptical signals from the ring) or passively discarded (e.g., by simplyallowing the optical signals to dissipate within the ring).

Referring to FIG. 1, a system including an optical transmittal storagenetwork 100 in accordance with embodiments of the present disclosure isshown. The network 100 of FIG. 1 includes a transmittal storage node110, an imaging device 120 or another data source, a distribution frame160 and an alternate input 165 to the transmittal storage node 110.

The transmittal storage node 110 includes a multiplexer 130, one or morefiber rings 140 and an analytic edge device 150. The multiplexer 130 isconfigured to receive signal inputs from multiple sources, such as theimaging device 120 and the analytic edge device 150, or any othersources (not shown), and to forward one or more of the signal inputs viaa common output. The inputs to the multiplexer 130 may be converted fromelectrical pulses into optical signals via optical transmitters 132,152, and amplified via optical amplifiers 134, before being isolated toone or more discrete wavelengths, or a band of such wavelengths, byoptical isolators 136.

The fiber ring 140 is a substantially long unit comprising one or moreoptical fibers that are arranged in a series of coils and extend betweena pair of optical switches 142, 144, which may be optical phased arrayswitches or any other type or form of optical switches (e.g., anoptocoupler). The optical switch 142 may be configured to receive one ormore optical signals from the multiplexer 130 and to transfer theoptical signals into the fiber ring 140, within which the opticalsignals may circulate. Alternatively, the optical switch 142 may beconfigured to transfer optical signals to an optical receiver 146, wherethe optical signals may be converted into electrical pulses or signals,and transferred to the distribution frame 160, from which theinformation or data included in such electrical pulses or signals may bedistributed to an external component or machine, deleted, or processedor handled in any other manner. Once an optical signal is provided tothe fiber ring 140, the optical signal may circulate and recirculatethroughout the fiber ring 140 until the optical signal is dissipatedtherein due to losses by one or more modes such as attenuation,dispersal, scattering or absorption, or until the optical signal istransferred from the fiber ring 140 for amplification or processing.

The optical switch 144 may be configured to transfer one or more of theoptical signals within the fiber ring 140 to the analytic edge device150 by way of the amplifier 154, or to duplicate one or more of theoptical signals within the fiber ring 140 and transfer one or more ofthe duplicates of such signals to the analytic edge device 150 by way ofthe amplifier 154. Additionally, as is shown in FIG. 1, the opticalswitch 144 may be configured to receive optical signals includinginformation or data from the alternate input 165, and transfer suchoptical signals into the fiber ring 140, or to the analytic edge device150. For example, the information or data received from the alternateinput 165 may be isolated to a wavelength or a band of such wavelengthsby an optical isolator 166, or amplified as necessary by an opticalamplifier 164.

The analytic edge device 150 may be any type or form of transfer deviceand/or computing component provided in parallel to the fiber ring 140.The analytic edge device 150 may be configured to receive packets ofinformation or data from the fiber ring 140 via the optical switch 144.For example, one or more optical signals within the fiber ring 140, orone or more duplicates of such signals, may be transferred from thefiber ring 140, amplified by an optical amplifier 154, and converted toelectrical pulses or signals by an optical receiver 156, before beingtransferred to the analytic edge device 150. The analytic edge device150 may be in communication with the distribution frame 160 or othercomponents for distributing information or data removed from the fiberring 140 to one or more external components (not shown).

Once the information or data included in the electrical pulses orsignals generated by the optical receiver 156 is received by theanalytic edge device 150, the information or data may be subjected toone or more analyses or processing operations therein, in order toevaluate the quality or relevance of the information or data, or whetherthe continued storage of the information or data is desired. Forexample, where the information or data includes imaging data (e.g., oneor more still or moving images and associated data or metadata, such assounds), the analytic edge device 150 may process the imaging data inorder to identify the various colors, textures, shapes or other featuresthat are expressed therein, or to determine whether the imaging dataincludes one or more specific objects, persons or actions, or objects,persons or actions of a general type. Alternatively, the analytic edgedevice 150 may be configured to receive a request for the information ordata included in one or more optical signals from a networked externalcomputer device (not shown), identify the one or more optical signalswhich include the requested information or data, and cause the requestedinformation or data to be transferred to the networked external computerdevice, e.g., by way of the distribution frame 160. Operations of theanalytic edge device 150 may be controlled or manipulated internally, orin response to one or signals or instructions provided to the analyticedge device 150 from an external source, such as the alternate input 165or a networked external computer device (not shown).

If the continued storage of the information or data contained in theelectrical signal is desired, the information or data may be convertedback into one or more optical signals by an optical transmitter 152,which may be amplified by the optical amplifier 134, and isolated to oneor more discrete wavelengths by the optical isolator 136, before beingtransferred to the multiplexer 130 and passed to the optical switch 142,where the optical signals may be returned to the fiber ring 140.

Accordingly, the systems and methods of the present disclosure mayinclude optical transmittal storage networks that are configured tocollect, stream, transmit, store, process, retrieve and serveinformation and data, such as video data and/or multimedia, in real timeor in near-real time, while packets of such information or data remainin continuous motion throughout the networks. The systems and methodsdisclosed herein may be utilized in connection with any networkedcomputer system in which data is obtained from a number of data sources,e.g., imaging devices deployed in a network, and are particularly usefulin connection with such networked computer systems for which theinformation or data captured thereby has a period of relevance having alimited duration.

Networked computer systems which include any number of sources orsensors for collecting data (e.g., imaging devices or other sensingcomponents) are commonly provided in a number of applications, such asin large-scale surveillance or monitoring operations. Such networkedsystems are becoming increasingly common and popular, and are growing insize. The volume of raw computing data that may be captured by datasources or sensors of a single networked computer system or byapplications operating thereon has grown exponentially in recent times.As a result, networked computer systems may occasionally be overwhelmedwith raw information or data, thereby complicating efforts to identify,index or locate relevant subsets of such information or data from themass of the raw information or data collected as a whole.

Most of the tasks associated with collecting, streaming, transmitting,storing, processing, retrieving or serving information and data arecommon to networked computer systems based on the size and scope of thenetworked computer systems, or their intended purposes. For example,some networked computer systems may be provided for the purpose ofmonitoring basic phenomena such as wind speeds or temperatures, or formonitoring more complex events or occurrences having a multitude ofvariables and factors that may change at unpredictable rates or inmultiple dimensions, such as more complex atmospheric, undersea orunderground events or occurrences.

One type or class of device that is commonly provided in a distributednetwork is an imaging device, e.g., a digital camera. Imaging devicessuch as digital cameras operate by capturing light that is reflectedfrom objects, and by subsequently calculating or assigning one or morequantitative values to aspects of the reflected light, e.g., pixels,generating an output based on such values, and storing such values inone or more data stores. Imaging devices may include one or more sensorshaving one or more filters associated therewith, and such sensors maydetect information regarding aspects of any number of pixels of thereflected light corresponding to one or more base colors (e.g., red,green or blue) of the reflected light. Such sensors may generate datafiles including such information, and store such data files in one ormore onboard or accessible data stores (e.g., a hard drive or other likecomponent), as well as one or more removable data stores (e.g., flashmemory devices), or displayed on one or more broadcast or closed-circuittelevision networks, or over a computer network as the Internet. Datafiles that are stored in one or more data stores may be printed ontopaper, presented on one or more computer displays, or subjected to oneor more analyses, such as to identify items expressed therein.

Reflected light may be captured or detected by an imaging device if thereflected light is within the device's field of view, which is definedas a function of a distance between a sensor and a lens within thedevice, viz., a focal length, as well as a location of the device and anangular orientation of the device's lens. Accordingly, where an objectappears within a depth of field, or a distance within the field of viewwhere the clarity and focus is sufficiently sharp, an imaging device maycapture light that is reflected off objects of any kind to asufficiently high degree of resolution using one or more sensorsthereof, and store information regarding the reflected light in one ormore data files.

Many imaging devices also include manual or automatic features formodifying their respective fields of view or orientations. For example,a digital camera may be configured in a fixed position, or with a fixedfocal length (e.g., fixed-focus lenses) or angular orientation.Alternatively, an imaging device may include one or more motorizedfeatures for adjusting a position of the imaging device, or foradjusting either the focal length (e.g., zooming the imaging device) orthe angular orientation (e.g., the roll angle, the pitch angle or theyaw angle), by causing a change in the distance between the sensor andthe lens (e.g., optical zoom lenses or digital zoom lenses), a change inthe location of the imaging device, or a change in one or more of theangles defining the angular orientation.

For example, an imaging device may be hard-mounted to a support ormounting that maintains the device in a fixed configuration or anglewith respect to one, two or three axes. Alternatively, however, animaging device may be provided with one or more motors and/orcontrollers for manually or automatically operating one or more of thecomponents, or for reorienting the axis or direction of the device,i.e., by panning or tilting the device. Panning an imaging device maycause a rotation within a horizontal axis or about a vertical axis(e.g., a yaw), while tilting an imaging device may cause a rotationwithin a vertical plane or about a horizontal axis (e.g., a pitch).Additionally, an imaging device may be rolled, or rotated about its axisof rotation, and within a plane that is perpendicular to the axis ofrotation and substantially parallel to a field of view of the device.

Furthermore, some modern imaging devices may digitally or electronicallyadjust an image identified in a field of view, subject to one or morephysical and operational constraints. For example, a digital camera mayvirtually stretch or condense the pixels of an image in order to focusor broaden the field of view of the digital camera, and also translateone or more portions of images within the field of view. Imaging deviceshaving optically adjustable focal lengths or axes of orientation arecommonly referred to as pan-tilt-zoom (or “PTZ”) imaging devices, whileimaging devices having digitally or electronically adjustable zooming ortranslating features are commonly referred to as electronic PTZ (or“ePTZ”) imaging devices.

Information and/or data regarding features or objects expressed inimaging data, including colors, textures or outlines of the features orobjects, may be extracted from the data in any number of ways. Forexample, colors of pixels, or of groups of pixels, in a digital imagemay be determined and quantified according to one or more standards,e.g., the RGB (“red-green-blue”) color model, in which the portions ofred, green or blue in a pixel are expressed in three correspondingnumbers ranging from 0 to 255 in value, or a hexadecimal model, in whicha color of a pixel is expressed in a six-character code, wherein each ofthe characters may have a range of sixteen. Moreover, textures orfeatures of objects expressed in a digital image may be identified usingone or more computer-based methods, such as by identifying changes inintensities within regions or sectors of the image, or by defining areasof an image corresponding to specific surfaces.

Furthermore, edges, contours, outlines, colors, textures, silhouettes,shapes or other characteristics of objects, or portions of objects,expressed in still or moving digital images may be identified using oneor more algorithms or machine-learning tools. The objects or portions ofobjects may be stationary or in motion, and may be identified at single,finite periods of time, or over one or more periods or durations. Suchalgorithms or tools may be directed to recognizing and markingtransitions (e.g., the edges, contours, outlines, colors, textures,silhouettes, shapes or other characteristics of objects or portionsthereof) within the digital images as closely as possible, and in amanner that minimizes noise and disruptions, and does not create falsetransitions. Some detection algorithms or techniques that may beutilized in order to recognize characteristics of objects or portionsthereof in digital images in accordance with the present disclosureinclude, but are not limited to, Canny edge detectors or algorithms;Sobel operators, algorithms or filters; Kayyali operators; Roberts edgedetection algorithms; Prewitt operators; Frei-Chen methods; or any otheralgorithms or techniques that may be known to those of ordinary skill inthe pertinent arts.

Once the characteristics of stationary or moving objects or portionsthereof have been recognized in one or more digital images, suchcharacteristics of the objects or portions thereof may be matchedagainst information regarding edges, contours, outlines, colors,textures, silhouettes, shapes or other characteristics of known objects,which may be stored in one or more data stores. In this regard,stationary or moving objects may be classified based at least in part onthe extent to which the characteristics identified in one or moredigital images correspond to one or more of the characteristics of theknown objects.

Imaging devices that are provided in a network, an array or a likeconfiguration may be configured to capture and, optionally, analyzeimaging data captured in a predetermined context (e.g., surveillance ofa fulfillment center, warehouse or like facility for theft, fraudprevention or efficiency monitoring). In some applications, imagingdevices may be provided in a networked system that is configured tocontinuously capture imaging data, and to analyze the imaging data toidentify specific aspects therein using one or more selected classifiersthat may operate on the imaging devices or one or more other computingdevices associated with the networked system. Such devices may beequipped or configured to generate clips or other data files whichinclude such aspects, or to associate one or more keywords with suchaspects.

Large monitoring or surveillance networks may include tens of thousandsof imaging devices, such as digital cameras, that may be configured tostream vast amounts of information or data at dozens of frames andmillions of bits per second. Transferring such information or data to acentral server or video storage system may consume vast portions of theavailable network bandwidth. Additionally, the maximum number of imagingdevices that may be supported within a given area through a virtual pipeof limited bandwidth is limited, and decreases as the frame rates orlevels of resolution required from one or more of such imaging devicesincreases. The maximum volume of information or data that may bepotentially transmitted by such devices may exceed the available networkbandwidth within a monitored environment, and the processing power andstorage capacity required to centrally receive and store the informationor data captured from such devices provided within the environment maybe enormous.

Even if sufficient network bandwidth, storage capacity or processingpower are provided and available to properly receive and store imagingdata captured from a monitored environment, however, the tasks ofindexing the imaging data, and retrieving such imaging data in responseto one or more queries, are also substantially challenging. Due to thelarge volume of imaging data that may be received from imaging devicesprovided in some monitoring networks, the ability to index and parsevideo clips, video images or other video data files from such imagingdata is limited. For example, a single digital camera may capture over aterabyte of imaging data in a given day. Currently, in many instances,such imaging data must be transferred to a central location, where theimaging data may then be processed in order to recognize objects orindividuals expressed within such imaging data captured from thousandsof imaging devices. Unfortunately, many existing imaging device networksare unable to achieve their stated goals of rapidly, accurately andefficiently capturing, indexing and storing imaging data in a centrallocation to enable identifying and providing at least some of suchimaging data in response to a query.

The operability of networks including one or more imaging devices, e.g.,digital cameras, may be affected based on the lighting conditions andcharacteristics of the scenes in which the imaging devices are deployed,e.g., whether such scenes have sufficient lighting at appropriatewavelengths, whether such scenes are occluded by one or more objects, orwhether such scenes are plagued by shadows or other visual impurities.The operability may also depend on the characteristics of the objectswithin the scenes, including variations, reflectances or deformations oftheir respective surfaces, as well as their sizes or textures.

Imaging data that is captured from one or more imaging devices in anetwork is typically transmitted over a network of cables or otherconnections of varying dimensions or attributes, and stored in one ormore centralized servers according to one or more data managementapplications. The transmission of such imaging data may occupy asubstantial amount of the available bandwidth in the network, however,and the imaging data may be stored on one or more drives or storagecomponents on one or more servers in accordance with a retention policyor other established criteria. For example, a surveillance camera thatcaptures imaging data at a rate of approximately two megabytes persecond (or 2 MBps) may generate up to two hundred sixteen gigabytes (or216 GB) of imaging data per day. Thus, where ten such cameras areprovided in a network having a fourteen-day retention policy, a total ofthree terabytes (or 3 TB) of storage capacity is required. A networkincluding ten thousand such cameras would, therefore, require threepetabytes (or 3 PB) of storage capacity.

Storing large amounts of video footage captured using one or moreimaging devices in a distributed network at one or more centralizedservers provided in a fleet may be accompanied by several limitations.For example, when all of such footage is streamed directly to a serveror other data storage facility and stored or otherwise written thereon,the servers will include not only relevant or desired information ordata but also irrelevant or useless information or data (e.g., footageof empty shelves or vacant parking lots). Therefore, in order to analyzesuch footage for any given purpose, all of the available footage must beretrieved and processed, with the relevant or desired information ordata being maintained, and the irrelevant or useless information or databeing discarded. Such analyses result in extensive and repeated readingsand writings from and to drivers or other storage components, and, wherea network includes a large number of imaging devices, the volume ofinformation or data that must be transferred may overwhelm servers orother storage units. Furthermore, the acts of transferring packets ofinformation or data that may include one or more still or moving imagesand any associated audio files or other data results in an end-to-endtime delay or lag that may be a function of the sizes of such packets,any intervening nodes or components through which the packets must betransferred, as well as the number of such nodes or components.

The systems and methods of the present disclosure are directed tooptical transmittal storage networks having one or more nodes forstoring information or data that remains in motion within the nodes.More specifically, the optical transmittal storage networks of thepresent disclosure may be configured to collect, stream, transmit,store, process, retrieve, and serve packets of information or data(e.g., imaging data) obtained from one or more networked data sources inreal time or in near-real time, as the packets including suchinformation or data are circulated as optical signals within a ring ofoptical fibers provided in one or more of the nodes.

The optical transmittal storage networks disclosed herein may beparticularly useful in large-bandwidth data streaming applications,e.g., applications for the streaming of audio files, video files orother multimedia, which may be enhanced by the presence of storagefacilities that are incorporated into the media through which theinformation or data is transferred. The information or data may bepersisted within the transmission medium as long as the information ordata serves a given purpose or satisfies a known demand, and may betransferred out of the transmission medium at regular or intermittentintervals for amplification or analysis and transferred back into thetransmission medium, as needed.

Where the information or data included in optical signals that arecirculating within a transmission medium such as an optical fiber ringhas a relatively short period of relevance, the information or data maybe transferred out of the transmission medium and amplified orprocessed, or permitted to dissipate or virtually erode within thetransmission medium due to one or more losses that may be encounteredtherein. Furthermore, by transferring optical signals into and out of atransmission medium for amplification or processing, the information ordata captured by such data sources and included in such optical signalsmay be filtered at regular or sporadic intervals to ensure that relevantinformation or data is maintained at a sufficient signal strength andcirculated therein, while irrelevant information or data is deletedtherefrom or allowed to die out therein. Accordingly, one or more of thetransmittal storage nodes of the optical transmittal storage networksdisclosed herein may be incorporated into any type or form of computernetwork, including computer networks that are configured to receiveinformation from a plurality of sources and analyze the information ordata “on the fly,” in real time or in near-real time, as the informationor data is captured and received, or shortly thereafter.

Some embodiments of the optical transmittal storage networks disclosedherein may operate according to optical buffering methods or techniques.For example, the optical transmittal storage networks described hereinmay be implemented using electronic network switches or routers havingthe capacity to retain hundreds of thousands or millions of packets ofinformation or data in first-come, first-served queues. In this regard,the use of optical buffers in such networks may have substantialpotential for enabling the processing, transmission, retrieval orstorage of large amounts of captured data, or data to be streamed, inreal time or in near-real time while minimizing the errors or lossesinherent with processing, transmission, retrieval, storage or servicingprocesses. According to some embodiments of the present disclosure, theinformation or data may be processed, transmitted, retrieved, stored orserviced with comparatively small hardware components, relatively lowoperational costs, and low power consumption. Moreover, the packets maybe transmitted in optical signals across large distances and at highspeeds, and made available to one or more users or computer deviceswhile the packets are stored in motion within the optical transmittalstorage networks.

The optical transmittal storage networks of the present disclosure areparticularly valuable in networked computer systems in which theinformation or data to be stored is captured or streamed atsubstantially constant or reliable rates. In such networked computersystems, the information or data may be circulated throughout atransmittal storage node at high throughput rates in substantially smallbuffers (e.g., approximately fifty packets per line card), which mayenhance the efficiency with which such information or data is collected,streamed, transmitted, stored, processed, retrieved or served in anynumber of ways.

For example, the transmission of information or data in small buffers ofpackets tends to ensure that any losses and/or errors associated withthe transmission of such packets are small. Likewise, the transmissionof information or data in small buffers of packets enables theprocessing of the information or data maintained therein in real time orin near-real time using one or more analytic edge devices. Thus,transmitting packets of information or data in substantially smallbuffers permits the packets to be evaluated for relevance, or utilizedfor any other purpose, quickly and effectively, while enablingirrelevant or undesirable packets of information or data to be extractedfrom the networked computer system, or merely permitted to die out.

The optical transmittal storage networks of the present disclosure mayinclude a number of components for accomplishing the collection,streaming, transmission, storage, processing, retrieval and service ofinformation and data. For example, according to some embodiments, atransmittal storage node may include one or more compact fiber delaylines comprised of thinly clad, highly non-linear fibers and one or moreoptical switches, such as optical phased array switches. According tosome embodiments, the fibers may be coiled or otherwise circumvolvedabout a bobbin, a ring or another like implement, and have a corediameter of approximately five micrometers (5 μm), a refractive index ofapproximately 1.4-1.5, and a length of one to two kilometers (1-2 km).Thus, in some embodiments, a fiber may have a length-to-core diameterratio of approximately 200 million-to-1 or more. By tightly coiling orcircumvolving the fibers about the bobbin, ring or other implement,multiple fibers may be provided while minimizing, or at least notincreasing, any associated propagation losses or errors associated withthe transmission or circulation of optical signals therein.

According to some other embodiments, the optical switches may have highswitch power efficiencies (e.g., approximately two milliwatts, or 2 mW),low signal-to-noise ratios (e.g., approximately eight decibels, or 8 dB,at each output channel) and high switching speeds (e.g., approximatelytwenty gigahertz, or 20 GHz). Unlike, traditional electromechanicalbeam-steering methods, which are comparatively slow and bulky, and mayconsume substantial amounts of power, optical switches such as opticalphased array switches may effectively deflect or switch optical beams ina motionless manner, thereby resulting in fast response times, smalldevice footprints, comparatively low power consumption levels andrelatively longer operational lifetimes.

In some embodiments, an optical phased array switch having two ingressports (or inputs) and two egress ports (or outputs), e.g., a 2×2 switchsuch as the optical switches 142, 144 of FIG. 1, may be provided forcausing optical signals to pass into a fiber ring or delay line, or forduplicating and/or extracting optical signals within the fiber ring ordelay line, and passing the optical signals to an analytic edge deviceor other component. Because one ingress port of an optical switch mayact as a main intake for packets of information and data, and becauseone egress port may be used for a main output path, an optical switchthat includes more than two ingress ports (or inputs) and more than twoegress ports (or outputs) may be used to link multiple highly non-linearfiber rings in parallel. For example, in some other embodiments, anoptical switch may have sixty-four ingress ports (or inputs) andsixty-four egress ports (or outputs), e.g., a 64×64 switch, and maytherefore accommodate sixty-three fiber rings in parallel. In thisregard, the optical switches utilized in the optical transmittal networkstorage of the present disclosure may be utilized for Internet protocolswitching or routing applications, as well.

According to still other embodiments of the present disclosure, theoptical transmittal storage networks include one or more analytic edgedevices, which may be any component or system configured to control theentry or transfer of optical signals into the fiber rings, the departureor transfer of the optical signals from the fiber rings, or theconversion of the optical signals into electrical signals, and toperform one or more analyses or processing on the electrical signals orany information or data contained therein. The analytic edge devices maybe configured to extract circulating optical signals including packetsof information or data from a fiber ring and conduct one or moreoperations on the information or data. For example, when the analyticedge device determines that the strength of an optical signal includingpackets of information or data has attenuated through multiplerecirculations, the analytic edge device may cause the optical signal tobe recalled from the fiber ring, amplified as necessary, converted toone or more electrical signals and pulses and analyzed therein.Alternatively, in some embodiments, the analytic edge device may beconfigured to recall optical signals from a fiber ring in accordancewith a predetermined schedule, to convert the optical signals intoelectrical signals, and to amplify or analyze the information or datacontained in the electrical signals. If necessary, the electrical pulsescontaining the information or data may be converted back to opticalsignals and further amplified before being returned to the fiber ringvia a multiplexer and one of the optical switches.

Moreover, the analytic edge devices may be further configured to adjustthe timing of the packets to align the packets within a buffer, as thearrival of the packets at the analytic edge device may be asynchronousin nature. Additionally, where an analytic edge device has ratified abuffer packet for storage after the information or data maintainedtherein been amplified or processed, the buffer packet may besynchronized with one or more of the buffer packets circulatingthroughout the fiber rings, and reintroduced or reinforced within thefiber ring, which may be configured to maintain the ordering of packetswithin an analytic edge device, and packets that are not reinforcedwithin a fiber ring will eventually attenuate. An analytic edge devicemay be used to manipulate the transfer or routing of packets ofinformation or data out of an optical transmittal storage node oroptical transmittal storage network by controlling the operation of theoptical switches in response to requests for retrieval, or the contentof the information or data maintained therein. In some embodiments, theoptical transmittal storage networks are capable of storing opticalpackets that are streamed at bandwidths of approximately forty gigabitsper second (40 Gbps), or at levels of performance that are comparable tothose of electrical routing devices.

The optical transmittal storage networks of the present disclosure mayfurther include one or more small business switches (e.g.,power-over-Ethernet components) and distribution frames (e.g., frames atwhich cables or connectors may be joined to the components of thetransmittal storage node, such as by way of an output from a fiber ringby one or more of the optical switches). Furthermore, an opticaltransmittal storage network may include a plurality of transmittalstorage nodes and transmittal storage switches that may be independentlyor collectively operated in order to cause packets of information ordata to circulate within the optical transmittal storage network amongthe different nodes or switches. Providing a number of transmittalstorage nodes or transmittal storage switches in a fabric or networkenables lengthier delays and, therefore, longer storage or retentionperiods, to be introduced into the optical transmittal storage networksof the present disclosure. Although some of the embodiments disclosedherein comprise a single transmittal storage node, those of ordinaryskill in the pertinent arts will recognize that the systems and methodsof the present disclosure may incorporate any number of such nodes orswitches.

Referring to FIGS. 2A and 2B, block diagrams of components of oneoptical transmittal storage network 200 in accordance with embodimentsof the present disclosure are shown. Except where otherwise noted,reference numerals preceded by the number “2” shown in the blockdiagrams of FIGS. 2A and 2B indicate components or features that aresimilar to components or features having reference numerals preceded bythe number “1” shown in the network 100 of FIG. 1.

As is shown in FIGS. 2A and 2B, the optical transmittal storage network200 includes a transmittal storage node 210, a plurality of data sources220-1, 220-2, 220-3, a distribution frame 260, a secondary input 265, auser 270 and an external media storage facility 280. The distributionframe 260, the user 270 and the external media storage facility 280, anddevices associated therewith, may be connected to or otherwisecommunicate with one another over a network 290, such as the Internet,as indicated by lines 268, 278, 288, by sending and receiving digitaldata.

The transmittal storage node 210 is configured to receive inputs ofinformation or data from a number of sources, including but not limitedto the data sources 220-1, 220-2, 220-3, the distribution frame 260 andthe secondary input 265, as well as any number of other externalcomputing devices or systems operated or maintained by the user 270 orthe external media storage facility 280, via the network 290. As isshown in FIG. 2A, the transmittal storage node 210 includes amultiplexer 230, at least one fiber ring 240 and an analytic edge device250.

The data sources 220-1, 220-2, 220-3 may be any type or form of sensingdevice configured to capture or collect one or more bits of informationof data from a monitored environment or predetermined location. Forexample, in some embodiments, the data sources 220-1, 220-2, 220-3 maybe imaging devices such as digital cameras or other optical sensors, aswell as temperature sensors, heat sensors, radiation sensors or positionand/or orientation sensors, or any other components for obtaininginformation or data of any type or form. The data sources 220-1, 220-2,220-3 may also be operatively or functionally joined with the businessswitch 225 or with one or more computers or computer processor-drivendevices by any wired or wireless means. Those of ordinary skill in thepertinent art will recognize that the number or type of sensors that maybe provided in accordance with the present disclosure is not limited.The business switch 225 may be any type or form of component forcombining electrical inputs from the data sources 220-1, 220-2, 220-3(e.g., a power-over-Ethernet adapter) and transmitting such inputs tothe transmittal storage node 210.

The multiplexer 230 is configured to receive a plurality of opticalsignals including packets of information or data, and to deliver one ormore of such signals in a single output. As is shown in FIG. 2A, themultiplexer 230 may be configured to receive optical signals includingpackets of information or data from one or more of the data sources220-1, 220-2, 220-3 by way of the business switch 225 or from theanalytic edge device 250, and to transfer such signals to the opticalswitch 242. The packets of information or data received at themultiplexer 230 may be newly collected or captured at one or more of thedata sources 220-1, 220-2, 220-3, and subjected to conversion,amplification and/or isolation by way of an optical transmitter 232, anoptical fiber amplifier 234 and/or an optical isolator 236,respectively. Alternatively, the packets of information or data receivedat the multiplexer 230 may be included in optical signals that areconverted, amplified and/or isolated based at least in part onelectrical signals received from the analytic edge device 250 by way ofan optical transmitter 252, an optical fiber amplifier 234 and/or anoptical isolator 236, respectively.

The optical transmitter 232 may be any type or form of machine forconverting an electrical signal into an optical form, or for feeding aresulting optical signal into an optical fiber. The optical transmitter232 may include one or more optical sources, electrical pulse generatorsand optical modulators as may be required in order to convert electricalsignals into optical signals. Additionally, the optical transmitter 232may be a component part of, or may be, an optical transducer that isconfigured to convert electrical signals into optical forms and also toconvert optical signals in electrical form. The conversion of electricalsignals into optical forms by the optical transmitter 232 may occur overfinite periods of time, and may necessarily introduce some form of delayinto the process by which the information or data is received from thedata sources 220-1, 220-2, 220-3 and transferred to the transmittalstorage node 210.

The optical fiber amplifier 234 may be any type or form of amplifyingdevice that is configured to increase the strength of an optical signalcomprising one or more packets of information or data, such as byequalization and/or regeneration of one or more signal inputs. Theamplification of optical signals, such as by the optical fiber amplifier234, is necessary in order to overcome attenuation losses within opticalfibers, including not only the fibers of the fiber ring 240 but also theoptical fibers connecting the optical transmitter 232, the optical fiberamplifier 234, the optical isolator 236, the multiplexer 230 and theoptical switch 242, and any other optical fibers within the transmittalstorage node 210. Some optical amplifiers that may be utilized intransmittal storage nodes of the present disclosure include, but are notlimited to, rare Earth metal-doped amplifiers (e.g., erbium-doped fiberamplifiers), semiconductor optical amplifiers, fiber raman amplifiers,brillouin amplifiers and others.

The optical isolator 236 may be any component that is configured topermit the transmission of light in a single direction and at one ormore discrete frequencies or wavelengths, or within one or more bands ofsuch frequencies or wavelengths, and to restrict or block light fromtraveling in opposite directions or at other frequencies or wavelengths.The optical isolator 236 may include one or more diodes (e.g.,light-emitting diodes), insulating barriers and/or amplifiers or othercomponents for limiting the frequencies or wavelengths of the opticalsignals received from the optical fiber amplifier 234.

The fiber ring 240 may include any number of substantially long opticalfibers that extend between the optical switch 242 and the optical switch244 in a non-linear (e.g., coiled) manner. In some embodiments, thefiber ring 240 may include optical fibers that are multiple kilometersin length, and may be coiled about a single bobbin or ring within thetransmittal storage node 210. The optical fibers of the fiber ring 240are provided to receive optical signals containing packets ofinformation or data, e.g., by way of the optical switch 242 or theoptical switch 244, and to permit such optical signals to bepersistently circulated therein. Additionally, the circulation of suchoptical signals throughout the fiber ring 240 introduces an inherentdelay in the transmission of the packets of information or data capturedtherein. If the retention of the packets of information contained insuch optical signals is desired, the optical signals may be regularlyremoved from the fiber ring 240, amplified and returned to the fiberring 240, thereby enabling the fiber ring 240 to effectively store suchpackets therein for a predetermined time. If the retention of suchpackets is no longer desired, the optical signals may be extracted fromthe fiber ring 240 or, alternatively, permitted to dissipate thereinthrough attenuation or other losses occurring naturally within the fiberring 240.

The optical switches 242, 244 may be any components or devices havingmulti-channel ports (e.g., optocouplers) for causing optical signals toenter the fiber ring 240, or be removed from the fiber ring 240. Forexample, the optical switches 242, 244 may be optical phased arrayswitches having two or more ingress ports (or inputs), two or moreegress ports (or outputs) that are characterized by having high switchpower efficiencies, low signal-to-noise ratios and high switchingspeeds. As is shown in FIG. 2A, the optical switch 242 is configured toreceive optical signals including packets of information or data fromthe multiplexer 230, or from within the fiber ring 240, and to cause theoptical signals and packets of information or data to either enter (orremain within) the fiber ring 240, or be transferred to an opticalreceiver 246 for conversion into one or more electrical signals, and fora subsequent transfer to the distribution frame 260.

In some embodiments, the optical switch 242 may transfer optical signalsand their respective information or data, e.g., such signals that arereceived from the multiplexer 230 or circulated within the fiber ring240, into the fiber ring 240 or to the distribution frame 260 by way ofthe optical receiver 246. In some other embodiments, the optical switch242 may duplicate one or more of the optical signals and transfer suchduplicates and their corresponding information and data into the fiberring 240 or to the distribution frame 260 by way of the optical receiver246. The operation of the optical switch 242 may be autonomous, or maybe controlled by the analytic edge device 250 or by another component orsystem.

Similarly, the optical switch 244 is also configured to receive opticalsignals including packets of information or data from within the fiberring 240, or from a secondary input 265, and to cause the opticalsignals and packets of information or data to either enter (or remainwithin) the fiber ring 240, or be transferred to the analytic edgedevice 250 for processing or analysis, by way of the optical fiberamplifier 254 and the optical receiver 256, which may convert theoptical signals and information or data into one or more electricalsignals or pulses.

In some embodiments, the optical switch 244 may transfer the circulatingoptical signals and their respective information or data to the opticalfiber amplifier 254 for amplification, and to the optical receiver 256for conversion, prior to passing the electrical signals and theinformation or data therein to the analytic edge device 250. In someother embodiments, the optical switch 244 may duplicate one or more ofthe optical signals and transfer the duplicated signals and theircorresponding information and data to the analytic edge device 250 byway of the optical fiber amplifier 254 and the optical receiver 256. Theoperation of the optical switch 244 may be controlled by the analyticedge device 250 or by another component or system.

The analytic edge device 250 may be any component that is configured toreceive information or data provided in one or more of the opticalsignals circulating throughout the fiber ring 240, and to perform one ormore analyses or processing operations thereon. The optical signalsincluding such information or data may be optionally amplified,converted into one or more electrical signals, or passed to the analyticedge device 250 for processing and analysis therein. The optical signalsand their packets of information or data may be extracted from orotherwise transferred out of the fiber ring 240 on any basis, such as astrength of an optical signal (e.g., to account for any attenuation orother losses within the fiber ring 240), or in response to a request forthe packets of information or data contained in an optical signal thatmay be received from a remote user and/or computer device. The analyticedge device 250 may be configured to execute any type or form offunctions, algorithms or techniques for performing information or dataprocessing tasks using one or more computer processors residing on theanalytic edge device 250 or on one or more computing devices accessibleover the network 290.

In some embodiments, where the information or data includes imagingdata, the analytic edge device 250 may be configured to execute orperform, or request that one or more other computer devices execute orperform, image processing tasks which include, but are not limited to,edge detection, object recognition, character recognition, imagecompression, image correction, image filtering, image modeling, imagenoise reduction, image quantization, image sampling, image scaling,image segmentation, image transformation, or image zooming. In someother embodiments, where the information or data includes audio data,the analytic edge device may be configured to execute or perform, orrequest that other computer devices execute or perform, one or moresound processing tasks which include, but are not limited to audiosignal processing, audio compression, speech processing, speechrecognition, and the like. The analytic edge device 250 may be furtherconfigured to execute one or more encoding, encryption, decoding ordecryption processes, or any other type or form of data processingfunctions or tasks. Additionally, as is shown in FIG. 2B, the analyticedge device 250 may be connected to the distribution frame 260 and/orany number of other external computing devices via the network 290.

The secondary input or source 265 may be any additional or alternativesource of information or data, in addition to the data sources 220-1,220-2, 220-3, that may be injected into the transmittal storage nodes210 for storage, analysis, amplification or other purposes. Thesecondary source 265 may be a source of optical signals includingpackets of information or data, or, alternatively, a source ofelectrical signals that may be amplified and/or converted to opticalsignals before being transferred to the optical switch 244. In someembodiments, the information or data received from the secondary source265 may be intended for storage within the transmittal storage node 210.In some other embodiments, the information or data received from thesecondary source 265 may include one or more instructions forcontrolling the operations of the analytic edge device 250 or any otherdevices or components associated with the transmittal storage node 210.

The transmittal storage node 210 may also be accessed by a user 270 of acomputer 272 operating one or more applications 274 thereon, which maybe any entity or individual that intends to access the information ordata stored within the transmittal storage node 210, or to storeinformation or data therein. For example, the user 270 may be a customerof a streaming media service, a user of a social network, or any otherperson or machine having a need to store or readily access informationor data for any purpose. The application 274 operating on the computer272 may provide one or more features or user interfaces that permit theuser 270 to view and access digital content, such as the contentprovided at one or more web sites accessible over the network 290, orcontent that may be stored within the transmittal storage node 210, orany other type or form of content. Also, those of skill in the pertinentart will recognize that the user 270 may use a keyboard, keypad, mouse,stylus, touch screen, or other device (not shown) or method forinteracting with the computer 272 or the application 274 operatingthereon, or to “select” an item, link, node, hub or any other aspectassociated with the systems or methods of the present disclosure.

The external media storage facility 280 may be any facility, station orlocation having the ability or capacity to receive, store and/or processinformation or data, such as imaging data, in one or more data stores.For example, the external media storage facility 280 may be configuredto receive, store or analyze digital files received from one or more ofthe data sources 220-1, 220-2, 220-3 over the network 290. As is shownin FIG. 2B, the external media storage facility 280 includes one or morephysical computer servers 282 having a plurality of databases 284associated therewith, as well as one or more computer processors 286.The servers 282 may be connected to or otherwise communicate with thedatabases 284 and the processors 286. The databases 284 may store anytype of information or data, including digital media files or any likefiles containing multimedia (e.g., audio and/or video content), for anypurpose. The servers 282 and/or the computer processors 286 may alsoconnect to or otherwise communicate with the network 290, as indicatedby line 288, through the sending and receiving of digital data.

The network 290 may include or be any wired network, wireless network,or combination thereof, and may comprise the Internet in whole or inpart. In addition, the network 290 may be, in whole or in part, apersonal area network, local area network, wide area network, cablenetwork, satellite network, cellular telephone network, or combinationthereof. The network 290 may also be, in whole or in part, a publiclyaccessible network of linked networks, possibly operated by variousdistinct parties, such as the Internet. In some embodiments, the network290 may be a private or semi-private network, such as a corporate oruniversity intranet. The network 290 may include one or more wirelessnetworks, such as a Global System for Mobile Communications (GSM)network, a Code Division Multiple Access (CDMA) network, a Long TermEvolution (LTE) network, or some other type of wireless network.Protocols and components for communicating via the Internet or any ofthe other aforementioned types of communication networks are well knownto those skilled in the art of computer communications and thus, neednot be described in more detail herein.

The computers, servers, devices and the like described herein have thenecessary electronics, software, memory, storage, databases, firmware,logic/state machines, microprocessors, communication links, displays orother visual or audio user interfaces, printing devices, and any otherinput/output interfaces to provide any of the functions or servicesdescribed herein and/or achieve the results described herein.Additionally, the transmittal storage node 210, the analytic edge device250, the distribution frame 260, the secondary input 265, the computer272 and/or the external media storage facility 280 may use anyweb-enabled or Internet applications or features, or any otherclient-server applications or features including E-mail or othermessaging techniques, to connect to the network 290, or to communicatewith one another, such as through short or multimedia messaging service(SMS or MMS) text messages. For example, the server 282 may be adaptedto transmit information or data in the form of synchronous orasynchronous messages from the external media storage facility 280 tothe analytic edge device 250, the computer 272 or any computerprocessors associated with one or more of the data sources 220-1, 220-2,220-3 or any other computer device in real time or in near-real time, orin one or more offline processes, via the network 290.

Those of ordinary skill in the pertinent art would recognize that thecomputer 272 or the external media storage facility 280 may include oroperate any of a number of computing devices that are capable ofcommunicating over the network, including but not limited to set-topboxes, personal digital assistants, digital media players, web pads,laptop computers, desktop computers, electronic book readers, and thelike. The protocols and components for providing communication betweensuch devices are well known to those skilled in the art of computercommunications and need not be described in more detail herein.

The data and/or computer-executable instructions, programs, firmware,software and the like (also referred to herein as “computer-executable”components) described herein may be stored on a computer-readable mediumthat is within or accessible by computers or computer components such asthe data sources 220-1, 220-2, 220-3, the analytic edge device 250 orthe computer 272, or any other computers or control systems utilized bythe distribution frame 260, the secondary input 265, the user 270 or theexternal media storage facility 280 and having sequences of instructionswhich, when executed by a processor (e.g., a central processing unit, or“CPU”), cause the processor to perform all or a portion of thefunctions, services and/or methods described herein. Suchcomputer-executable instructions, programs, software and the like may beloaded into the memory of one or more computers using a drive mechanismassociated with the computer readable medium, such as a floppy drive,CD-ROM drive, DVD-ROM drive, network interface, or the like, or viaexternal connections.

Some embodiments of the systems and methods of the present disclosuremay also be provided as a computer-executable program product includinga non-transitory machine-readable storage medium having stored thereoninstructions (in compressed or uncompressed form) that may be used toprogram a computer (or other electronic device) to perform processes ormethods described herein. The machine-readable storage media of thepresent disclosure may include, but is not limited to, hard drives,floppy diskettes, optical disks, CD-ROMs, DVDs, ROMs, RAMs, erasableprogrammable ROMs (“EPROM”), electrically erasable programmable ROMs(“EEPROM”), flash memory, magnetic or optical cards, solid-state memorydevices, or other types of media/machine-readable medium that may besuitable for storing electronic instructions. Further, embodiments mayalso be provided as a computer-executable program product that includesa transitory machine-readable signal (in compressed or uncompressedform). Examples of machine-readable signals, whether modulated using acarrier or not, may include, but are not limited to, signals that acomputer system or machine hosting or running a computer program can beconfigured to access, or including signals that may be downloadedthrough the Internet or other networks.

Although some of the embodiments disclosed herein reference the capture,analysis, indexing, storage and retrieval of information or data usingone or more imaging devices, the systems and methods are not so limited.Rather, the systems and methods disclosed herein may be utilized in anyenvironment in which the storage of information or data is desired, andmay be used to collect, stream, transmit, store, process, retrieve andserve information and data in any type of environment.

Referring to FIG. 3, a flow chart 300 of one process for storinginformation or data using an optical transmittal storage network inaccordance with embodiments of the present disclosure is shown. At box310, electrical signals comprising data are received from a plurality ofdata sources. For example, the data sources may be a plurality ofimaging devices, and the data received may include imaging data (e.g.,still or moving images, as well as any associated information or datasuch as sounds or metadata). At box 315, the electrical signalscomprising the data are combined and converted to optical signals, andat box 320, the optical signals are amplified and isolated to one ormore specific wavelengths. For example, referring again to FIG. 2A, theelectrical signals may be provided to the optical transmitter 232 viathe business switch 225, amplified via the optical fiber amplifier 234before being isolated to a discrete wavelength or band of wavelengths bythe optical isolator 236.

At box 330, the optical signals are passed to a first optical switch atthe specific wavelengths via a multiplexer, e.g., the multiplexer 230 ofFIG. 2A. At box 340, whether the optical signals are to enter a fiberring is determined. For example, the first optical switch may be anoptical phased array switch or like switching component with two or moreingress ports (or inputs) and two or more egress ports (or outputs) thatis configured to pass the optical signal to the fiber ring, or toanother component or device. If the optical signals are not intended toenter the fiber ring, the process advances to box 342, where the opticalsignals are passed to an optical receiver via the first optical switch,and to box 344, where the optical signals are converted to electricalsignals and passed to a distribution frame or to another transmittalstorage node, and the process ends. If, however, the optical signals areto be passed to the fiber ring, then the process advances to box 350,where the optical signals are passed to the fiber ring, and to box 355,where the optical signals are circulated throughout the fiber ring.

At box 360, whether the optical signals within the fiber ring requireamplification or processing is determined. For example, with regard toamplification, an analytic edge device or other component may determineor estimate the intensity or strength of the optical signals, or anelapsed time that the optical signals have circulated throughout thefiber ring without amplification or analysis. With regard to processing,the analytic edge device or other component may determine whether arequest for one or more packets of information or data within an opticalsignal are requested from a user or another computer device, or whetherone or more of the packets is to be subject to processing according to aregular schedule or other protocol. For example, where the opticalsignals comprise packets of imaging data, the imaging data may besubjected to one or more analyses or processing methods either in realtime, in near-real time, or according to a schedule, or singly or in oneor more batches. The analyses or processing methods may be selected onany basis.

If the optical signals within the fiber ring do not requireamplification or processing, then the process returns to box 355, wherethe optical signals continue to recirculate throughout the fiber ring.If amplification or analysis of the optical signals is desired, however,then the process advances to box 370, where the optical signals arepassed to an optical receiver via a second optical switch, which, likethe first optical switch, may be an optical phased array switch or anylike component with two or more ingress ports (or inputs) and two ormore egress ports (or outputs). At box 380, the optical signals areconverted to electrical signals via an optical receiver or like device,and passed to an analytic edge device.

At box 390, the data contained in the electrical signals may beamplified or processed at the analytic edge device. For example, wherethe optical signals include packets of imaging data, the analytic edgedevice may execute, or cause to be executed, one or more processingalgorithms or methods on the still or moving images and any associatedmetadata (e.g., edge detection, object recognition, characterrecognition, image compression, image correction, image filtering, imagemodeling, image noise reduction, image quantization, image sampling,image scaling, image segmentation, image transformation, or imagezooming). Alternatively, the analytic edge device may cause the data tobe amplified using one or more amplifiers or amplification techniques.After the amplification or analysis of the data included in theelectrical signals is complete, the process returns to box 315, wherethe electrical signals are combined and converted back to opticalsignals, which may be amplified or isolated at box 320, passed to thefirst optical switch at box 330, and either transferred back into thefiber ring at box 350, or passed to an optical receiver at box 342 andconverted to electrical signals before being passed to the distributionframe or another transmittal storage node at box 344.

Accordingly, the systems and methods of the present disclosure, such asthe process for storing information or data using an optical transmittalstorage network of flow chart 300, may be used to collect, stream,transmit, store, process, retrieve or serve information and data, suchas video data and/or multimedia, in real time or near-real time. Packetsof the information or data may be persisted in optical signals that maybe permitted to recirculate throughout a transmittal storage node, andmay be amplified, as needed, until the information or data is desiredfor analysis or processing. If the information or data circulatingthroughout the fiber ring is no longer desired, the optical signalscontaining such packets may be removed via a distribution frame or othercomponent, such as is shown in FIG. 3, or simply permitted to dissipatewithin the fiber ring.

The optical transmittal storage networks of the present disclosure maybe utilized in any applications, and may be particularly useful insurveillance or monitoring applications in which large numbers ofimaging devices are deployed in networks. In such applications, thepersistent storage of imaging data in packets circulating throughout oneor more optical fiber rings enables the information or data captured bysuch imaging devices to be processed according to a predeterminedschedule or on an as-needed basis. Referring to FIG. 4A, one embodimentof an optical transmittal storage network 400 of the present disclosureis shown. Except where otherwise noted, reference numerals preceded bythe number “4” shown in the block diagram of FIG. 4A indicate componentsor features that are similar to components or features having referencenumerals preceded by the number “2” shown in the block diagrams of FIG.2A or FIG. 2B or by the number “1” shown in the network 100 of FIG. 1.

As is shown in FIG. 4A, the optical transmittal storage network 400 isprovided in a surveillance or monitoring application, viz., inassociation with an entry point at an airport. The optical transmittalstorage network 400 includes a transmittal storage node 410, a pluralityof imaging devices 420-1, 420-2, 420-3, 420-4, a business transferswitch 425 and a distribution frame 460. The transmittal storage node410 further includes a multiplexer 430, an optical fiber ring 440, firstand second optical switches 442, 444, and an analytic edge device 450connected to a network 490, such as the Internet.

The imaging devices 420-1, 420-2, 420-3, 420-4 are shown as mountedabove the entry point at the airport in predetermined locations, inorder to capture imaging data independently from the perspectives ofsuch predetermined locations. Imaging data captured by such imagingdevices 420-1, 420-2, 420-3, 420-4 is transmitted to the business switch425, and into the transmittal storage node 410 by way of the multiplexer430. From the multiplexer 430, optical signals including the imagingdata may be transferred to the first optical switch 442, which may be anoptical phased array switch or any other type or form of optical switchhaving two or more ingress ports (or inputs) and two or more egressports (or outputs). The first optical switch 442 may then determinewhether the optical signals and their respective packets of informationor data are to be transferred out of the transmittal storage node 410,e.g., to the distribution frame 460 and/or to another external computerdevice (not shown), or into the optical fiber ring 440, within which theoptical signals may circulate until the optical signals attenuate due toone or more losses, or are transferred therefrom by the first opticalswitch 442 or the second optical switch 444.

The analytic edge device 450 may recall optical signals includingpackets of the imaging data from the optical fiber ring 440 by way ofthe second optical switch 444 on any basis. For example, the packets maybe recalled in order to amplify the optical signals, or to conduct oneor more analyses or processing operations on the imaging data containedin such packets. When one or more packets of imaging data are identifiedfor extraction, e.g., by the analytic edge device 450, the secondoptical switch 444 may then transfer optical signals containing thepackets of imaging data out of the optical fiber ring 440 via the secondoptical switch 444, optionally convert the optical signal to anelectrical signal that also contains the imaging data, and provide theimaging data to the analytic edge device 450 for amplification orprocessing. Alternatively, the second optical switch 444 may duplicatethe optical signals containing the packets of imaging data, optionallyconvert the duplicate optical signals to electrical signals containingthe imaging data, and transfer the imaging data to the analytic edgedevice 450 for amplification or processing while allowing the originaloptical signals to dissipate within the optical fiber ring 440.

Within the analytic edge device 450, imaging data included in theelectrical signals may be amplified or processed according to one ormore techniques or algorithms, e.g., to extract information regardingthe contents of the imaging data, to detect and recognize one or morepersons, objects or events represented therein, or to perform any otherprocessing operations on the imaging data. Such techniques or algorithmsmay be performed in series or in parallel, and according to apredetermined schedule, at random or whenever a need for the imagingdata to be processed arises. For example, the analytic edge device 450may be configured to operate one or more classifiers on all of theimaging data transferred out of the optical fiber ring 440 by the secondoptical switch 444, while operating one or more other classifiers onsome of the imaging data. If the continued storage of the imaging datawithin the transmittal storage node 410 is desired, optical signalsincluding the imaging data may be returned to the optical fiber ring 440via the multiplexer 430 and the first optical switch 442. Alternatively,if the continued storage of the imaging data within the transmittalstorage node 410 is no longer desired, the imaging data may be deletedfrom the analytic edge device 450, or transferred to the distributionframe 460 for external storage or deletion. Additionally, information ordata (e.g., one or more reports) regarding the status or contents of theoptical fiber ring 440, or the results of analyses of the imaging datastored in the optical fiber ring 440, may be generated at the analyticedge device 450 and transferred to one or more external computer devices(not shown) via the network 490.

The information or data received by or stored within an opticaltransmittal storage device or network, of the present disclosure may beamplified or processed in real time or in near-real time, or on aperiodic basis, e.g., in accordance with a predetermined schedule. Insome embodiments, an optical signal containing packets of information ordata may be transferred out of an optical fiber ring and amplified atregular intervals by one or more analytic edge devices or likecomponents, or transferred to one or more other optical transmittalstorage devices or networks. For example, where information or datacirculating within an optical fiber ring is to be analyzed subject to anumber of different processing techniques or algorithms, the opticalsignals including such information or data may be transferred out of theoptical fiber ring at a first time, optionally converted to electricalsignals, analyzed according to a first one of the processing techniquesor algorithms, converted back to optical signals if necessary, andreturned to the optical fiber ring or transferred into another opticalfiber ring, only to be extracted from the optical fiber ring at a secondtime, optionally converted to electrical signals again, analyzedaccording to a second one of the processing techniques or algorithms,converted back to optical signals if necessary, and returned to theoptical fiber ring or transferred into another optical fiber ring, andso on and so forth. Moreover, processes for amplifying or processinginformation or data included in such signals may be performed together,either simultaneously or in parallel, or on a staggered or serialschedule.

Referring to FIG. 4B, the processing of imaging data obtained from oneof the imaging devices 420-1, 420-2, 420-3, 420-4 of the opticaltransmittal storage network 400 of FIG. 4A according to one embodimentof the present disclosure is shown. The imaging data may be processedaccording to a predetermined number of algorithms or techniques atregular intervals of time and/or amplified according to a schedule thatensures that the quality of the imaging data contained therein remainsadequate, using one or more optical transmittal storage networks orcomponents that may be provided for general or dedicated purposes.

For example, as is shown in FIG. 4B, optical signals including imagingdata may be transferred out of an optical fiber ring in a firsttransmittal storage node at a first predetermined time after the imagingdata has been captured, e.g., approximately thirty seconds, and analyzedto determine whether the imaging data contains any relevant backgroundfeatures, e.g., one or more aspects of a scene or environment. If theimaging data includes any such features, the optical signals may beamplified and returned to the optical fiber ring of the firsttransmittal storage node for storage, and/or also transferred to anoptical fiber ring of a second transmittal storage node for furtheranalysis. If the imaging data does not include any relevant backgroundfeatures, then the optical signals may be permitted to dissipate withinthe optical fiber ring of the first transmittal storage node, and/oralso transferred to the second transmittal storage node.

At a second predetermined time after the imaging data has been captured,e.g., approximately ninety seconds, the optical signals may betransferred out of the optical fiber ring of the second transmittal nodeand analyzed to determine whether the imaging data contains any relevantforeground features, e.g., the presence or absence of any persons orobjects. If the imaging data includes any such features, the opticalsignals may be amplified and returned to the optical fiber ring of thesecond transmittal storage node for storage, and/or also transferred toan optical fiber ring of a third transmittal storage node for furtheranalysis. If the imaging data does not include any relevant backgroundfeatures, then the optical signals may be permitted to dissipate withinthe optical fiber ring of the second transmittal storage node, and/oralso transferred to the third transmittal storage node.

At a third predetermined time after the imaging data has been captured,e.g., approximately one hundred fifty seconds, the optical signals maybe transferred out of the optical fiber ring of the third transmittalnode and analyzed to recognize any faces expressed therein, e.g.,according to one or more facial recognition algorithms or techniques. Ifone or more faces are recognized in the imaging data, the opticalsignals may be amplified and returned to the optical fiber ring of thethird transmittal storage node for storage, and/or also transferred toan optical fiber ring of a fourth transmittal storage node for furtheranalysis. If the imaging data does not include any faces, or if no suchfaces are recognized, then the optical signals may be permitted todissipate within the optical fiber ring of the third transmittal storagenode, and/or also transferred to the fourth transmittal storage node.

At a fourth predetermined time after the imaging data has been captured,e.g., approximately two hundred ten seconds, the optical signals may betransferred out of the optical fiber ring of the fourth transmittal nodeand analyzed to recognize any objects expressed therein, e.g., accordingto one or more object recognition algorithms or techniques. If one ormore objects are recognized in the imaging data, the optical signals maybe amplified and returned to the optical fiber ring of the fourthtransmittal storage node for storage. If the imaging data does notinclude any such objects, or if no such objects are recognized, then theoptical signals may be permitted to dissipate within the optical fiberring of the fourth transmittal storage node.

Accordingly, the systems and methods of the present disclosure mayinclude optical transmittal storage networks that are configured tostore information and data by maintaining the information or data inmotion within one or more optical fiber rings, or by selectivelytransferring the information or data out of such optical fiber rings,e.g., for amplification or reinforcement, for analysis or processing, orfor storage or processing in association with another optical fiberring.

As is discussed above, information or data that is circulated within afiber ring of an optical transmittal storage node of the presentdisclosure may be extracted from the fiber ring and amplified,processed, served to a user or computer device that requested theinformation or data, or subjected to one or more other computer-basedprocesses. Referring to FIG. 5, a flow chart 500 of one process forstoring information or data using an optical transmittal storage networkin accordance with embodiments of the present disclosure is shown. Atbox 510, an electrical signal including data that was obtained from atleast one data source is converted to an optical signal via an opticaltransmitter. The electrical signal may include any type of data obtainedfrom one or more data sources, e.g., imaging data obtained from animaging device provided in a network or array of such devices. At box520, the optical signal including the data enters a fiber ring via afirst optical switch. For example, the optical switch may be an opticalphased array switch or like component having multiple ingress ports (orinputs) and egress ports (or outputs), and may preferably have highswitch power efficiencies, low signal-to-noise ratios and high switchingspeeds.

At box 530, the optical signal is circulated throughout the fiber ring.At box 532, whether the continued storage of the data is desired isdetermined. If the continued storage of the data is no longer desired,then the process advances to box 534, where the optical signal ispermitted to dissipate within the fiber ring without furtheramplification or analysis, and the process ends. If the continuedstorage of the data is desired, however, then the process advances tobox 540, where it is determined whether the optical signal requiresamplification. If the optical signal does not require amplification,then the process returns to box 530, where the optical signal and thedata are recirculated throughout the fiber ring.

If the optical signal requires amplification, then the process advancesto box 550, where the optical signal is removed from the fiber ring viaa second optical switch, and to box 552, where the optical signal isconverted to an electrical signal via an optical receiver. For example,referring again to FIG. 2A, the optical switch 244 may either extractthe optical signals requiring amplification from the fiber ring 240 andtransfer the optical signals to the optical receiver 256, or duplicatethe optical signals requiring amplification and transfer the duplicatedoptical signals to the optical receiver 256, while allowing the originaloptical signals to dissipate within the fiber ring 240. The operation ofthe second optical switch may be controlled by an analytic edge deviceor other internal or external control system.

At box 554, the electrical signal is subjected to one or more integritychecks, e.g., verifications of the data included therein, such asmirroring or parity analyses, or checksum calculation. If the integrityof the electrical signal is not satisfactory, then the process advancesto box 560, where information regarding a loss of the integrity of thedata is recorded, e.g., in a record or file in one or more data stores.At box 570, the electrical signal and its data are deleted or,alternatively, transferred to an external storage facility, and theprocess ends.

If the integrity of the electrical signal is satisfactory, however, thenthe process advances to box 558, where an optical signal is regeneratedfrom the electrical signal, e.g., by converting the electrical signal toanother optical signal, using an optical transmitter. The process thenreturns to box 520, where the optical signal including the data reentersthe fiber ring via the first optical switch.

Accordingly, the systems and methods of the present disclosure may storeinformation or data in an optical transmittal storage network having oneor more transmittal storage nodes by maintaining the information or datain motion in one or more optical signals within an optical fiber ring,and the optical signals may be extracted from the optical fiber ring andamplified, as necessary, in order to ensure that the optical signals andthe information or data stored therein do not attenuate within theoptical fiber ring.

Additionally, as is also discussed above, the systems and methods of thepresent disclosure may enable the information or data circulating withinan optical ring to be subjected to one or more analyses or processingtechniques. Referring to FIG. 6, a flow chart 600 of one process foranalyzing or processing information or data using an optical transmittalstorage network in accordance with embodiments of the present disclosureis shown. Except where otherwise noted, reference numerals preceded bythe number “6” shown in the block diagram of FIG. 6 indicate componentsor features that are similar to components or features having referencenumerals preceded by the number “5” shown in the flow chart 500 of FIG.5.

At box 610, an electrical signal including data that was obtained fromat least one data source, e.g., one of a plurality of imaging devicesprovided in a network, is converted to an optical signal via an opticaltransmitter. At box 620, the optical signal including the data enters afiber ring via a first optical switch. At box 630, the optical signal iscirculated throughout the fiber ring. At box 632, whether the continuedstorage of the data is desired is determined. If the continued storageof the data is no longer desired, then the process advances to box 634,where the optical signal is permitted to dissipate within the fiber ringwithout further amplification or analysis, and the process ends.

If continued storage of the data is desired, then the process advancesto box 640, whether an analysis or processing of the optical signal orthe data therein is desired is determined. If an analysis or processingof the optical signal or the data is not desired, then the processreturns to box 630, where the optical signal and the data arerecirculated throughout the fiber ring.

If an analysis or processing of the optical signal is desired, however,then the process advances to box 650, where the optical signal isremoved from the fiber ring via a second optical switch, and to box 652,where the optical signal is converted to an electrical signal via anoptical receiver. At box 654, the electrical signal is subjected to oneor more integrity checks, e.g., verifications of the data includedtherein, such as mirroring or parity analyses, or checksum calculation.If the integrity of the electrical signal is not satisfactory, then theprocess advances to box 660, where information regarding a loss of theintegrity of the data is recorded, e.g., in a record or file in one ormore data stores. At box 670, the electrical signal and its data aredeleted or, alternatively, transferred to an external storage facility,and the process ends.

If the integrity of the electrical signal is satisfactory, however, thenthe process advances to box 656, where the electrical signal is providedto an analytic edge device for analysis or processing. The analytic edgedevice may be configured to perform any type or form of analysis orprocessing on the data maintained in the electrical signal. For example,where the electrical signal includes one or more packets of imagingdata, the analytic edge device may be configured to execute or perform,or request that other computer devices execute or perform edgedetection, object recognition, character recognition, image compression,image correction, image filtering, image modeling, image noisereduction, image quantization, image sampling, image scaling, imagesegmentation, image transformation, or image zooming algorithms ortechniques on the imaging data. Where the data includes audio data, theanalytic edge device may be configured to execute or perform, or requestthat other computer devices execute or perform, audio signal processing,audio compression, speech processing or speech recognition algorithms ortechniques on the audio data. Other processing algorithms or techniquesmay include, but are not limited to, encoding, encryption, decoding ordecryption processes, or any other type or form of data processingfunctions or tasks. Such analyses may be performed using one or morecomputer processors provided in association with the analytic edgedevice, or using one or more computer devices connected to the analyticedge device over a network.

At box 658, after the data maintained in the electrical signal isprocessed, an optical signal is regenerated from the electrical signal,e.g., by converting the electrical signal to another optical signal,using an optical transmitter. The process then returns to box 620, wherethe optical signal including the data reenters the fiber ring via thefirst optical switch.

Accordingly, the systems and methods of the present disclosure may alsoconduct one or more processing operations or analyses on information ordata stored in an optical transmittal storage network having one or moretransmittal storage nodes by extracting the optical signals includingthe information or data to be analyzed from an optical fiber ring withinone of the nodes, converting the optical signals to electrical signals,and processing the electrical signals according to the one or moreprocessing operations or analyses. The electrical signals may then beconverted to one or more optical signals, which may be returned to theoptical fiber ring and recirculated therein.

Additionally, as is further discussed above, the systems and methods ofthe present disclosure may also transfer information or data circulatingwithin an optical ring to one or more users or computer devices uponrequest. In this regard, the optical transmittal storage networks may beused to serve information or data, e.g., short-lived content, such associal network feeds or streaming audio or video files, to one or moresuch devices quickly and efficiently. Referring to FIG. 7, a flow chart700 of one process for transferring or serving information or data usingan optical transmittal storage network in accordance with embodiments ofthe present disclosure is shown. Except where otherwise noted, referencenumerals preceded by the number “7” shown in the block diagram of FIG. 7indicate components or features that are similar to components orfeatures having reference numerals preceded by the number “6” shown inthe process 600 of FIG. 6, or by the number “5” shown in the process 500of FIG. 5.

At box 710, an electrical signal including data that was obtained fromat least one data source, e.g., one of a plurality of imaging devicesprovided in a network, is converted to an optical signal via an opticaltransmitter. At box 720, the optical signal including the data enters afiber ring via a first optical switch. At box 730, the optical signal iscirculated throughout the fiber ring. At box 732, whether the continuedstorage of the data is desired is determined. If the continued storageof the data is no longer desired, then the process advances to box 734,where the optical signal is permitted to dissipate within the fiber ringwithout further amplification or analysis, and the process ends.

If continued storage of the data is desired, the process advances to box740, where whether a request for the data included in the optical signalis received from a user is determined. If a request for the dataincluded in the optical signal is not received, then the process returnsto box 630, where the optical signal and the data are recirculatedthroughout the fiber ring.

If a request for the data included in the optical signal is received,however, then the process advances to box 750, where the optical signalis removed from the fiber ring via the first optical switch, and to box752, where the optical signal is converted to an electrical signal viaan optical receiver. At box 754, the electrical signal is subjected toone or more integrity checks, e.g., verifications of the data includedtherein, such as mirroring or parity analyses, or checksum calculation.If the integrity of the electrical signal is not satisfactory, then theprocess advances to box 760, where information regarding a loss of theintegrity of the data is recorded, e.g., in a record or file in one ormore data stores. At box 770, the electrical signal and its data aredeleted or, alternatively, transferred to an external storage facility,and the process ends.

If the integrity of the electrical signal is satisfactory, however, thenthe process advances to box 756, where the electrical signal istransferred to a distribution frame for distribution to a computingdevice or another transmittal storage node. At box 758, after theelectrical signal has been transferred to the distribution frame, anoptical signal is regenerated from the electrical signal, e.g., byconverting the electrical signal to another optical signal, using anoptical transmitter. The process then returns to box 720, where theoptical signal including the data reenters the fiber ring via the firstoptical switch.

Accordingly, the systems and methods disclosed herein may be used toserve information or data that remains in motion within a fiber ringprovided in an optical transmittal node to a user upon request, and mayamplify or otherwise process an optical signal that includes suchinformation or data prior to returning the optical signal to the fiberring.

As is discussed above, those of ordinary skill in the pertinent artswill recognize that some embodiments of the optical transmittal storagenetworks and/or transmittal storage nodes disclosed herein may includemultiple fiber rings provided in parallel with one another, between apair of optical switches. Referring to FIG. 8, a block diagram ofcomponents of one optical transmittal storage network 800 in accordancewith embodiments of the present disclosure is shown. Except whereotherwise noted, reference numerals preceded by the number “8” shown inthe network 800 of FIG. 8 indicate components or features that aresimilar to components or features having reference numerals preceded bythe number “4” shown in the network 400 of FIG. 4A, by the number “2”shown in the block diagram of FIG. 2A or FIG. 2B, or by the number “1”shown in the network 100 of FIG. 1.

As is shown in FIG. 8, the network 800 includes a transmittal storagenode 810, a plurality of m imaging devices 820-1, 820-2 . . . 820-m, adistribution frame 860 and an alternate input 865. The imaging devices820-1, 820-2 . . . 820-m are configured to collect imaging data andprovide the imaging data to the transmittal storage node 810.

The transmittal storage node 810 includes an optical transmitter 832, amultiplexer 830, a plurality of n fiber rings 840-1, 840-2 . . . 840-n,first and second optical switches 842, 844, an optical receiver 846, ananalytic edge device 850, an optical transmitter 852 and an opticalreceiver 856. The optical transmitter 832 is configured to convert theelectrical signals comprising the imaging data into optical signals, andto provide the optical signals to the multiplexer 830, which maytransfer the optical signals to the first optical switch 842.

The first optical switch 842 is configured to transmit the opticalsignals received from the multiplexer 830 to either the optical receiver846, e.g., for converting the optical signals to one or more electricalsignals and transferring the electrical signals to the distributionframe 860 for external storage or analysis, or to one or more of thefiber rings 840-1, 840-2 . . . 840-n, within which the optical signalsand their associated imaging data may circulate. The second opticalswitch 844 is configured to receive optical signals from one or more ofthe fiber rings 840-1, 840-2 . . . 840-n, or from the alternate input865, and either return the optical signals to one or more of the fiberrings 840-1, 840-2 . . . 840-n, or to pass the optical signals and theimaging data contained therein to the analytic edge device 850 by way ofthe optical receiver 856.

The second optical switch 844 and/or optical receiver 856 may be anycomponent that is configured to cause one or more of the optical signalscirculating throughout one or more of the fiber rings 840-1, 840-2 . . .840-n to be extracted therefrom, optionally amplified, converted intoone or more electrical signals, or passed to the analytic edge device850 for processing and analysis therein. The optical signals and theirpackets of information or data may be extracted from the fiber rings840-1, 840-2 . . . 840-n on any basis. Additionally, the analytic edgedevice 850 may amplify the electrical signals and the information ordata maintained therein, and perform one or more analytic functions onthe information or data, or convert the electrical signals including theinformation or data back into optical signals, and return the opticalsignals to the multiplexer 830. The analytic edge device 850 may furthercontrol the timing by which optical signals are extracted from the fiberrings 840-1, 840-2 . . . 840-n, processed, amplified and/or returned tothe fiber rings 840-1, 840-2 . . . 840-n, such that packets ofinformation included in such optical signals may be processed in asynchronous or asynchronous manner.

The parallel arrangement of the fiber rings 840-1, 840-2 . . . 840-n ofthe transmittal storage node 810 may enhance the storage capacity of thefiber rings 840-1, 840-2 . . . 840-n by extending the inherent delaysassociated with the circulation of optical signals including the packetsof information or data. For example, the first and second opticalswitches 842, 844 may cause the optical signals to be transferredbetween or among the various fiber rings 840-1, 840-2 . . . 840-n,thereby lengthening the time during which the information or data mayremain within the transmittal storage node 810. Providing multiple fiberrings 840-1, 840-2 . . . 840-n further enables the transmittal storagenode 810 to accommodate more irregular inflows of imaging data from theimaging devices 820-1, 820-2 . . . 820-m, e.g., in bursts or pulses ofimaging data of varying volumes or durations.

As is discussed above, two or more of the transmittal storage nodes ofthe present disclosure may be effectively provided in a singletransmittal storage switch, e.g., between optical switches in parallel,such that the electrical signals or optical signals may be received atthe transmittal storage switch and transferred to one or more of thetransmittal storage nodes provided therein, or permitted to pass throughto another node or element. Referring to FIG. 9, a transmittal storageswitch 905 that may be utilized in one embodiment of an opticaltransmittal storage network in accordance with embodiments of thepresent disclosure is shown. Except where otherwise noted, referencenumerals preceded by the number “9” shown in the transmittal storageswitch 905 of FIG. 9 indicate components or features that are similar tocomponents or features having reference numerals preceded by the number“8” in the network 800 of FIG. 8, by the number “4” shown in the network400 of FIG. 4A, by the number “2” shown in the block diagram of FIG. 2Aor FIG. 2B, or by the number “1” shown in the network 100 of FIG. 1.

As is shown in FIG. 9, the transmittal storage switch 905 includes apair of optical switches 942, 944 aligned in parallel, with twotransmittal storage nodes 910A, 910B provided therein. The transmittalstorage switch 905 includes a pair of ingress ports (or inputs) and apair of egress ports (or outputs). Thus, information or data enteringthe transmittal storage switch 905 may be transferred to the firstoptical switch 942 and to either the second transmittal storage node910B or out of the transmittal storage switch 905. Likewise, informationor data entering the transmittal storage switch 905 may be transferredto the second optical switch 944, and to either the first transmittalstorage node 910A or out of the transmittal storage switch 905. Ineither instance, the transmittal storage switch 905 may introduce delaysinto the process by which information or data is transferred therein ortherefrom, by way of the optical fiber rings provided within thetransmittal storage nodes 910A, 910B (not shown), thereby enablinginformation or data to be stored within the transmittal storage switch905 by maintaining the information or data in motion therein.

Similarly, the various transmittal storage nodes or transmittal storageswitches disclosed herein may be provided in an array, a lattice, or afabric-like layout. Referring to FIG. 10, an optical transmittal storagenetwork 1000 is shown. Except where otherwise noted, reference numeralspreceded by the number “10” shown in the network 1000 of FIG. 10indicate components or features that are similar to components orfeatures having reference numerals preceded by the number “9” in thetransmittal storage switch 905 of FIG. 9, by the number “8” in thenetwork 800 of FIG. 8, by the number “4” shown in the network 400 ofFIG. 4A, by the number “2” shown in the block diagram of FIG. 2A or FIG.2B, or by the number “1” shown in the network 100 of FIG. 1.

The transmittal storage network 1000 includes a plurality of transmittalstorage switches 1005 and transmittal storage nodes 1010 provided in anarray, a lattice, or a fabric-like layout. The transmittal storage nodes1010 may include two ingress points and two egress points, while thetransmittal storage switches 1005 may include two ingress points and twoegress points. For example, referring again to FIG. 2A, the transmittalstorage node 210 is configured to receive inputs of information or datafrom the data sources 220-1, 220-2, 220-3 by way of the multiplexer 230,as well as the secondary input 265. Meanwhile, the transmittal storageswitches 1005 may transfer one or more optical signals to anothertransmittal storage switch 1005 or transmittal storage node 1010, or toanother system or entity (not shown).

The fabric-like layout of the transmittal storage network 1000 of FIG.10 enables information or data to be passed between and amongtransmittal storage switches 1005 and transmittal storage nodes 1010 fora variety of purposes. For example, referring again to FIG. 4B, opticalsignals including such information or data may be transferred fromtransmittal storage node 1010 to transmittal storage node 1010, and thevarious processing tasks (e.g., background detection, foregrounddetection, facial recognition, object recognition) may be performed onthe information or data included within such signals on each of therespective transmittal storage nodes 1010.

Those of ordinary skill in the pertinent arts will recognize that thesystems and methods of the present disclosure may be utilized orincorporated in any application, system or device in which thecollection, streaming, transmission, storage, processing, retrieval orservice of information or data is desired. For example, where asufficient amount or extent of bandwidth is reliably available, one ormore embodiments of the present disclosure may be provided or combinedto form a “server-less” virtual facility for storing content (e.g.multimedia). The facility may effectively store information or data suchas audio files, video files or other multimedia while the information ordata is transferred through cables or optical fiber, particularly wherethe information or data is received from one or more data sources atfixed or predictable rates, or where the information or data may beexpected to expire or have limited relevance at predetermined orpredictable time. In this regard, the systems and methods of the presentdisclosure may effectively eliminate the need for large-scale storagefacilities including one or more servers.

Additionally, the systems and methods disclosed herein may beparticularly valuable for use in streaming multimedia applications orservices. In such applications, the media to be streamed (e.g., digitalmusic files or video files of any type or form) may be stored in packetswithin the transmission medium itself while some or all of the packetsare streamed and consumed by multiple users. Where a transmissionnetwork is sufficiently large, and configured to incorporate a delaythat may be systematically introduced using one or more fiber rings,packets of data may be persisted within the transmission network andmade available for streaming or consumption.

Some embodiments of the present disclosure may also provide streamingstorage for extremely large networks of data sources (e.g., ahomogeneous network of sources) such as imaging devices. For example,where a surveillance network includes one million cameras, with each ofthe cameras configured to capture and transmit data at a rate of twomillion bytes per second (or 2 MBps), a total of two terabytes (or 2 TB)of imaging data will be streamed through the network per second.Therefore, incorporating a delay of two minutes (e.g., a two-minutedelay between the generation of the imaging data at one end and theavailability of the data at another end) into such networks enables atotal of two hundred forty terabytes (or 240 TB) may be effectivelystored within the network at any given time. While the imaging data isbeing circulated within the surveillance network, the imaging data maybe evaluated in order to identify its contents or relevance using one ormore detection, recognition or classification functions, or perform anyother analyses on the imaging data.

Similarly, some other embodiments of the present disclosure may performone or more analytical applications on packets of information or datacirculating within a transmission medium to determine the relevance ofeach of the individual packets prior to transmitting any of the packetsto a resident data store. In this regard, relevant packets ofinformation or data may be sifted or filtered from irrelevant packetswhile the packets are in motion, with the irrelevant packets beingdiscarded, and the relevant packets being transferred to one or moredata stores for long-term storage. Thus, the systems and methods of thepresent disclosure may be used to reduce the volume of data that isultimately transferred to a long-term data storage unit, while likewisereducing the extent of the available bandwidth occupied thereby.

The systems and methods of the present disclosure provide a number ofadvantages over prior art data collection and storage systems. Forexample, such systems and methods may effectively utilize dark fiber,e.g., optical fiber infrastructure that is installed in place but is notin use, to circulate and store data packets that are commonly accessedby one or more users. One or more repeaters or regenerators, includingvarious analytic edge devices and/or amplifiers, as well as opticalreceivers, transmitters or transducers, may be added to nodes or otheraspects of networks in order to maintain optical signals with sufficientintegrity within the dark fiber and to overcome any losses that may beencountered therein.

Similarly the systems and methods of the present disclosure may be usedto manage the distribution and storage of multimedia across networkshaving geographically dispersed components. Information or data may betransferred across such networks from a node in a first location toanother node in a second location at a manageable transfer rate, andvirtually assembled in the node at the second location over time.Additionally, the systems and methods of the present disclosure maysubstitute fiber rings for cloud-based components, thereby enablingusers to access packets of information or data that remain in motionwithin the fiber rings from any number of devices that are connected tothe fiber rings, rather than requiring each of the devices tosynchronize with the cloud-based components

Furthermore, the systems and methods of the present disclosure may beparticularly well-suited for transient storage of short-lived content,such as social network feeds or instant messaging audio or video filesthat are consumed as promptly as they are generated, and which have alimited period of relevancy. Currently, social networks and messagingsystems feature growing numbers of users, who tend to generate data ofdiminishing relevance over time at fluctuating rates. In suchsituations, because the feeds or files need not be stored for extendeddurations, expending resources on components such as servers in order tostore or analyze the transient content at peak times or transmissionfrequencies is inefficient and unnecessary. Instead, one or more opticaltransmittal storage networks may be provided in order to at leasttemporarily maintain the feeds or files in motion within one or morefiber rings, as long as demand for such feeds or files may exist.

Similarly, the systems and methods of the present disclosure mayincorporate optical transmittal storage networks into “on-the-fly”analysis tools such as spam filtering, code or data processing, or thelike. For example, a predetermined set of keywords, phrases, whitelistedor blacklisted addresses, business rules or the like for definingunwanted content, such as spam, may be made accessible to one or moreanalytic edge devices, and incoming messages including information ordata may be passed to one or more fiber rings and processed according toestablished protocols with respect to such keywords, phrases, addresses,rules or the like. Information or data having a limited duration ofrelevance may also be maintained within an optical transmittal storagenetwork having a plurality of fiber rings or like components, and accessto the transmittal storage network or such components may be limited topersonnel having predetermined levels of security clearance or access.Likewise, an optical transmittal storage network having a plurality ofstorage nodes may include nodes that are each configured or configurablefor storing packets of information or data of a particular type, size orscope.

Although the disclosure has been described herein using exemplarytechniques, components, and/or processes for implementing the systemsand methods of the present disclosure, it should be understood by thoseskilled in the art that other techniques, components, and/or processesor other combinations and sequences of the techniques, components,and/or processes described herein may be used or performed that achievethe same function(s) and/or result(s) described herein and which areincluded within the scope of the present disclosure. For example,although some of the embodiments described herein or shown in theaccompanying figures refer to the use of imaging devices such as digitalcameras that are posted in fulfillment centers, the systems and methodsdisclosed herein are not so limited, and may utilize any type of datasource that is provided in any environment and for any purpose.Additionally, while some of the embodiments disclosed herein includenetworks consisting solely of imaging devices and/or switchingcomponents, edge devices or fiber rings, those of ordinary skill in thepertinent arts will recognize that such networks may include one or morerelated, complementary or auxiliary devices that may aid in theperformance or execution of one or more of the actions or functionsdisclosed herein.

It should be understood that, unless otherwise explicitly or implicitlyindicated herein, any of the features, characteristics, alternatives ormodifications described regarding a particular embodiment herein mayalso be applied, used, or incorporated with any other embodimentdescribed herein, and that the drawings and detailed description of thepresent disclosure are intended to cover all modifications, equivalentsand alternatives to the various embodiments as defined by the appendedclaims. Moreover, with respect to the one or more methods or processesof the present disclosure described herein, including but not limited tothe flow charts shown in FIG. 3, 5, 6 or 7, orders in which such methodsor processes are presented are not intended to be construed as anylimitation on the claimed inventions, and any number of the method orprocess steps or boxes described herein can be combined in any orderand/or in parallel to implement the methods or processes describedherein. Also, the drawings herein are not drawn to scale.

Conditional language, such as, among others, “can,” “could,” “might,” or“may,” unless specifically stated otherwise, or otherwise understoodwithin the context as used, is generally intended to convey in apermissive manner that certain embodiments could include, or have thepotential to include, but do not mandate or require, certain features,elements and/or steps. In a similar manner, terms such as “include,”“including” and “includes” are generally intended to mean “including,but not limited to.” Thus, such conditional language is not generallyintended to imply that features, elements and/or steps are in any wayrequired for one or more embodiments or that one or more embodimentsnecessarily include logic for deciding, with or without user input orprompting, whether these features, elements and/or steps are included orare to be performed in any particular embodiment.

The elements of a method, process, or algorithm described in connectionwith the embodiments disclosed herein can be embodied directly inhardware, in a software module stored in one or more memory devices andexecuted by one or more processors, or in a combination of the two. Asoftware module can reside in RAM, flash memory, ROM, EPROM, EEPROM,registers, a hard disk, a removable disk, a CD-ROM, a DVD-ROM or anyother form of non-transitory computer-readable storage medium, media, orphysical computer storage known in the art. An example storage mediumcan be coupled to the processor such that the processor can readinformation from, and write information to, the storage medium. In thealternative, the storage medium can be integral to the processor. Thestorage medium can be volatile or nonvolatile. The processor and thestorage medium can reside in an ASIC. The ASIC can reside in a userterminal. In the alternative, the processor and the storage medium canreside as discrete components in a user terminal.

Disjunctive language such as the phrase “at least one of X, Y, or Z,” or“at least one of X, Y and Z,” unless specifically stated otherwise, isotherwise understood with the context as used in general to present thatan item, term, etc., may be either X, Y, or Z, or any combinationthereof (e.g., X, Y, and/or Z). Thus, such disjunctive language is notgenerally intended to, and should not, imply that certain embodimentsrequire at least one of X, at least one of Y, or at least one of Z toeach be present.

Unless otherwise explicitly stated, articles such as “a” or “an” shouldgenerally be interpreted to include one or more described items.Accordingly, phrases such as “a device configured to” are intended toinclude one or more recited devices. Such one or more recited devicescan also be collectively configured to carry out the stated recitations.For example, “a processor configured to carry out recitations A, B andC” can include a first processor configured to carry out recitation Aworking in conjunction with a second processor configured to carry outrecitations B and C.

Language of degree used herein, such as the terms “about,”“approximately,” “generally,” “nearly” or “substantially” as usedherein, represent a value, amount, or characteristic close to the statedvalue, amount, or characteristic that still performs a desired functionor achieves a desired result. For example, the terms “about,”“approximately,” “generally,” “nearly” or “substantially” may refer toan amount that is within less than 10% of, within less than 5% of,within less than 1% of, within less than 0.1% of, and within less than0.01% of the stated amount.

Although the invention has been described and illustrated with respectto illustrative embodiments thereof, the foregoing and various otheradditions and omissions may be made therein and thereto withoutdeparting from the spirit and scope of the present disclosure.

1-20. (canceled)
 21. A storage system comprising: at least onetransmittal storage node comprising: a first optical transmitter; asecond optical transmitter; a multiplexer; a first optical switch; asecond optical switch; at least one optical fiber ring extending inparallel between the first optical switch and the second optical switch;a first optical receiver; at least a first computer device comprising atleast one memory component and at least one computer processor; andwherein the storage system is configured to at least: receive, by thefirst optical transmitter, a first electrical signal comprising a firstset of data from a data source; convert, by the first opticaltransmitter, the first electrical signal into a first optical signalcomprising at least some of the first set of data; transmit the firstoptical signal comprising the at least some of the first set of datafrom the first optical transmitter to the multiplexer; transfer thefirst optical signal from the multiplexer to the first optical switch;transfer, by the first optical switch, the first optical signal into theat least one optical fiber ring at a first time; transfer, by the secondoptical switch, the first optical signal out of the at least one opticalfiber ring at a second time; transfer the first optical signal from thesecond optical switch to the first optical receiver; convert, by thefirst optical receiver, the first optical signal into a secondelectrical signal, wherein the second electrical signal comprises the atleast some of the first set of data; and transmit the second electricalsignal from the first optical receiver to the first computer device. 22.The storage system of claim 21, wherein the storage system is furtherconfigured to at least: transmit the second electrical signal from thefirst computer device to the second optical transmitter; convert, by thesecond optical transmitter, the second electrical signal into a secondoptical signal comprising the at least some of the first set of data;transmit the second optical signal comprising the at least some of thefirst set of data from the second optical transmitter to themultiplexer; transfer the second optical signal from the multiplexer tothe first optical switch; and transfer, by the first optical switch, thesecond optical signal into the at least one optical fiber ring at athird time.
 23. The storage system of claim 21, wherein the at least onetransmittal storage node further comprises an optical amplifier inseries between the first optical transmitter and the multiplexer, andwherein the storage system is further configured to at least: amplify,by the optical amplifier, the first optical signal prior to the firsttime.
 24. The storage system of claim 21, wherein the first opticalswitch is an optical phased array switch having at least two ingressports and at least two egress ports, wherein at least a first portion ofthe at least one optical fiber ring is linked to a first one of theingress ports, wherein the multiplexer is linked to a second one of theingress ports, wherein a second computer device is linked to a first oneof the egress ports, and wherein at least a second portion of theoptical fiber ring is linked to a second one of the egress ports. 25.The storage system of claim 21, wherein the at least one optical fiberring comprises at least one optical fiber circumvolved about a bobbin,and wherein the at least one optical fiber has a refractive index ofapproximately 1.4 and a length of at least one kilometer.
 26. A methodcomprising: transferring a first optical signal into a first ingressport of a first optical phased array switch, wherein the first opticalsignal comprises a first set of data; transferring the first opticalsignal out of the first optical phased array switch and into at leastone optical fiber ring at a first time via a first egress port of thefirst optical phased array switch; transferring the first optical signalout of the at least one optical fiber ring and into a second opticalphased array switch at a second time via a first ingress port of thesecond optical phased array switch; transferring the first opticalsignal from the second optical phased array switch to a first opticalreceiver via a first egress port of the second optical phased arrayswitch; generating, by the first optical receiver, a first electricalsignal based at least in part on the first optical signal, wherein thefirst electrical signal comprises at least some of the first set ofdata; transferring the first electrical signal from the first opticalreceiver to a first optical transmitter; generating, by the firstoptical transmitter, a second optical signal comprising at least some ofthe first set of data; and transferring the second optical signal fromthe first optical transmitter into the first ingress port of the firstoptical phased array switch; and transferring the second optical signalout of the first optical phased array switch and into the at least oneoptical fiber ring at a third time via the first egress port of thefirst optical phased array switch.
 27. The method of claim 26, whereintransferring the first optical signal out of the at least one opticalfiber ring and into the second optical phased array switch furthercomprises: determining that the first optical signal has circulatedwithin the at least one optical fiber ring for at least a predeterminedelapsed time, wherein the predetermined elapsed time is approximatelyequal to a difference between the first time and the second time. 28.The method of claim 26, wherein transferring the first optical signalout of the at least one optical fiber ring and into the second opticalphased array switch further comprises: determining an intensity of thefirst optical signal after the first time and prior to the second time;and determining that the intensity of the first optical signal is lessthan a predetermined threshold prior to the second time.
 29. The methodof claim 26, wherein transferring the first optical signal from thesecond optical phased array switch to the first optical receiver furthercomprises: transferring the first optical signal from the second opticalphased array switch to an optical fiber amplifier via the first egressport of the second optical phased array switch, wherein the opticalfiber amplifier is in series between the first egress port of the secondoptical phased array switch and the first optical receiver; amplifyingthe first optical signal by the optical fiber amplifier; and afteramplifying the first optical fiber signal, transferring the firstoptical signal from the optical fiber amplifier to the first opticalreceiver prior to the third time.
 30. The method of claim 26, whereintransferring the first electrical signal from the first optical receiverto the first optical transmitter comprises: transferring at least thefirst electrical signal from the first optical receiver to an analyticedge device, wherein the analytic edge device is in series between thefirst optical receiver and the first optical transmitter; conducting, bythe analytic edge device, an analysis of the at least some of the firstset of data included in the first electrical signal.
 31. The method ofclaim 30, wherein the analysis comprises at least one of edge detection,object recognition, character recognition, image compression, imagecorrection, image filtering, image modeling, image noise reduction,image quantization, image sampling, image scaling, image segmentation,image transformation, image zooming, audio signal processing, audiocompression, speech processing or speech recognition.
 32. The method ofclaim 26, wherein the at least one optical fiber ring comprises at leastone optical fiber coiled about a bobbin, and wherein the at least oneoptical fiber has a length of at least one kilometer.
 33. The method ofclaim 32, wherein at least a first portion of the at least one opticalfiber extends between a second egress port of the second optical phasedarray switch and a second ingress port of the first optical phased arrayswitch.
 34. The method of claim 26, further comprising: transferring thesecond optical signal out of the at least one optical fiber ring andinto the second optical phased array switch at a fourth time via thefirst ingress port of the second optical phased array switch;transferring the second optical signal from the second optical phasedarray switch to the first optical receiver via the first egress port ofthe second optical phased array switch; generating, by the first opticalreceiver, a second electrical signal based at least in part on thesecond optical signal, wherein the second electrical signal comprises atleast some of the first set of data; transferring the second electricalsignal from the first optical receiver to the first optical transmitter;generating, by the first optical transmitter, a third optical signalcomprising at least some of the first set of data.
 35. The method ofclaim 26, wherein transferring the first optical signal into the firstingress port of the first optical phased array switch further comprises:capturing at least the first set of data using at least one sensingdevice, transferring a first electrical signal comprising the at leastsome of the first set of data from the at least one sensing device to asecond optical transmitter; and generating, by the second opticaltransmitter, the first optical signal comprising the at least some ofthe first set of data.
 36. The method of claim 26, further comprising:prior to transferring the first optical signal into the first ingressport of the first optical array switch, isolating the first opticalsignal to a predefined wavelength or a band of wavelengths by at leastone optical isolator.
 37. The method of claim 26, further comprising:receiving a request for the at least some of the first set of data fromat least one computer device at a fourth time, wherein the fourth timefollows the third time; transferring the second optical signal out ofthe at least one optical fiber ring and into the first optical phasedarray switch via the first ingress port of the first optical phasedarray switch; transferring the second optical signal out of the firstoptical phased array switch and to a second optical receiver via asecond egress port of the first optical phased array switch; andgenerating, by the second optical receiver, a second electrical signalbased at least in part on the second optical signal, wherein the secondelectrical signal comprises the at least some of the first set of data;and transferring the second electrical signal from the second opticalreceiver to a distribution frame in communication with the at least onecomputer device.
 38. A method comprising: capturing at least a first setof data by at least one sensing device; transferring a first electricalsignal comprising at least some of the first set of data to a firsttransmittal storage node comprising a first optical transmitter, a firstmultiplexer, a first optical switch, at least a first optical fiberring, a second optical switch, a first optical fiber amplifier, a firstoptical receiver, a first analytic edge device and a second opticaltransmitter; converting, by the first optical transmitter, the firstelectrical signal to a first optical signal comprising the at least someof the first set of data; transferring, by way of the first multiplexer,the first optical signal to the first optical switch; transferring, bythe first optical switch, the first optical signal into at least thefirst optical fiber ring; transferring, by the second optical switch,the first optical signal out of at least the first optical fiber ringand to the first optical fiber amplifier; amplifying the first opticalsignal by the first optical fiber amplifier; transferring the firstoptical signal from the first optical fiber amplifier to the firstoptical receiver; converting, by the first optical receiver, the firstoptical signal to a second electrical signal; transferring the secondelectrical signal to the first analytic edge device; performing, by thefirst analytic edge device, a first analysis on the at least some of thefirst set of data included in the second electrical signal; determiningthat the at least some of the first set of data satisfies the firstanalysis; and in response to determining that the at least some of thefirst set of data satisfies the first analysis, transferring, by thefirst analytic edge device, the second electrical signal to a secondtransmittal storage node.
 39. The method of claim 38, furthercomprising: determining that the at least some of the first set of datadoes not satisfy the first analysis; and in response to determining thatthe at least some of the first set of data does not satisfy the firstanalysis, transferring the second electrical signal from the firstanalytic edge device to the second optical transmitter; converting, bythe second optical transmitter, the second electrical signal to a secondoptical signal comprising the at least some of the first set of data;transferring, by way of the first multiplexer, the second optical signalto the first optical switch; and transferring, by the first opticalswitch, the second optical signal into at least the first optical fiberring.
 40. The method of claim 38, wherein the second optical transmittalnode comprises a third optical transmitter, a second multiplexer, athird optical switch, at least a second optical fiber ring, a fourthoptical switch, a second optical fiber amplifier, a second opticalreceiver, a second analytic edge device and a fourth opticaltransmitter, and wherein the method further comprises: converting, bythe third optical transmitter, the second electrical signal to a secondoptical signal comprising the at least some of the first set of data;transferring, by way of the second multiplexer, the second opticalsignal to the third optical switch; transferring, by the third opticalswitch, the second optical signal into at least the second optical fiberring; transferring, by the fourth optical switch, the second opticalsignal out of at least the second optical fiber ring and to the secondoptical fiber amplifier; amplifying the second optical signal by thesecond optical fiber amplifier; transferring the second optical signalfrom the second optical fiber amplifier to the second optical receiver;converting, by the second optical receiver, the second optical signal toa third electrical signal; transferring the third electrical signal tothe second analytic edge device; performing, by the second analytic edgedevice, a second analysis on the at least some of the first set of dataincluded in the third electrical signal; determining that the at leastsome of the first set of data satisfies the second analysis; and inresponse to determining that the at least some of the first set of datasatisfies the second analysis, transferring, by the second analytic edgedevice, the third electrical signal to a third transmittal storage node.